August 30th - T137s and Orion in the Strait of Georgia!

On the 30th we left the harbour and headed into the strait in search of the animals which had been hanging out there for the past few day and we were lucky enough to find Orion, a humpback whale! Orion was doing feeding dives and travelling through the waters

There were lots of whales out in the Strait of Georgia on the 30th of September! We were lucky enough to see Orion, a humpback whale in the morning, and then the T137s, a pod of transient orca in the afternoon! Both these animals are increasing in number here in the waters of the Salish sea which is an amazing sight to see!

The transient orca are a eco-type which feed on other marine mammals. Their main food source is the Harbour seals (about 50%) with sea lions, porpoises, and other mammals making up the remaining 50%. Since there is plenty of their food source around they are doing really well. The T137s are a good example of this with all members besides the matriarch, T137 “Loon”, being born after 2000! Her Eldest soon T137A “Jack” is 17, T137B “Tempest” is 13, and the youngest T137D “Wright” is only 7 years old.

Here are some of the photos captured by our naturalists of these amazing animals! Enjoy!

Whales aren’t the only beautiful view from the boats! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Orion going down on a feeding dive. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.

Vessels can be an issue for humpback whales so if you see a blow, go slow! It helps keep humpbacks like Orion here safe from human impact. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.

Orion again! Photo by Rebeka Pirker.

The underside of Orions fluke is how we can tell him apart from the other whales! Note the black spot on the left side of the fluke. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.

T137D “Wright” travelling through the water. Note the nicks out of the dorsal fin near the tip. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.

T137B “Tempest” travelling with their younger sibling “Wright”. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.